Anti-racists rally in Tel Aviv

Submitted by Matthew on 15 June, 2016 - 9:19 Author: Ira Berkovic

Thousands of people participated in a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday 28 May, protesting at the appointment of the far-right Avigdor Lieberman as Defence Minister. Demonstrators chanted “Lieberman is a racist and a fascist”, and “Lieberman is the minister of war”. Placards proclaimed “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies”, and “Israel, Palestine, two states for two peoples”.

The demonstration was organised by Meretz, a left-wing political party, the Peace Now coalition, and the Joint List, a coalition of Arab parties. Meretz leader Zehava Galon said “only a joint Jewish-Arab effort can beat this [...] the struggle against racism must be a shared one.” Joint List leader Ayman Odeh said, “we are in this together, Jews and Arabs, and we will overcome [Lieberman].”

The appointment of Lieberman, who heads the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, marks a sharp rightwards turn for Benjamin Netanyahu’s already hawkish government.

Lieberman has advocated “land trades” that would incorporate West Bank settlements into Israel in exchange for predominantly-Arab areas becoming part of a Palestinian state. He has also said he would support the execution of Arab members of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, who met with Hamas or Hezbollah. He opposed the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and has advocated its reoccupation, saying that Israel should conduct a “thorough cleansing of the enclave”.

After a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv on 8 June, in which Palestinian gunmen killed four people and injured seven others, Lieberman refused to return the bodies of the perpetrators, in a reversal of the Defence Ministry’s previous policy. He also asked the Attorney General to explore the possibility of truncating the legal process the Israeli state must go through to allow the demolition of suspected terrorists’ homes.

The appointment of Lieberman was a u-turn for Netanyahu, who initially sought a coalition with the Labor Party’s Isaac Herzog, who heads the more liberal Zionist Union coalition. Netanyahu has a one-seat majority in the Knesset, and his decision to link with Yisrael Beteinu prompted the incumbent defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, a member of Netanyahu’s own party, Likud, to resign in protest.

Ya’alon said Israel had been taken over by “dangerous and extreme elements”. He said that “extremism, violence, and racism” were “threatening the sturdiness” of Israeli society, as well as “trickling into the Israeli Defence Forces”. The Foreign Ministry of the Palestinian Authority said Lieberman’s appointment “confirms the lack of a peace partner in Israel”. The liberal newspaper Ha’aretz said: “For the second time since the last election, Netanyahu had to choose between the Zionist Union and the extreme right, and once again he chose to veer right and establish an ideological, racist coalition that aims to entrench the occupation, expand the settlements in the territories, oppress the Arab minority and undermine Israeli democracy”.

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.